The Way of Sant’Efisio
The Way St Efisio: four days of faith among breathtaking scenery of sea and land.
The Way of St. Efisio was created to honor one of the most revered saints in Sardinia, the route winds for 60 km and retraces the steps of the martyr warrior,the departure is from Cagliari place where according to tradition St. Ephisius stopped a severe plague epidemic. For 367 years the largest procession in Sardinia has been held, encapsulating all the love for the saint, with traditional costumes from all over Sardinia and with the throwing of rose petals that in Cagliari on May 1 flood the street where the ox-drawn chariot passes and that holds inside it the statue of the martyr most loved by Sardinians. The “great journey” of St. Ephisius lasts four days, about sixty kilometers: outward, to Nora, with the statue of the saint, and then back to the little church in Cagliari’s Stampace district, where the statue of the man who, by tradition, had stopped a terrible plague epidemic, will rest for a whole year.
The different stages
The first stop of the faithful loner, and also of the Procession, is on the outskirts of Cagliari, in Giorgino, one of its seaside districts: there is a visit to the church, where the statue of St. Ephisius, is stripped of the luxurious clothes it has worn so far, and dressed in the less lavish “travel” clothes. One finally leaves the town to arrive at La Maddalena Spiaggia di Capoterra. From here one can proceed to the locality of “Su Loi,” to get as far as Villa d’Orri of the Marquises Manca di Villa Hermosa. Further on to reach Sarroch and the church of Santa Vittoria.
Dove Dormire
Dove Mangiare
Cosa Fare
Pura and Nora : archaeological jewel
Those who feel like it can also sleep in one of the many hotels, some very nice, that one encounters, to resume, the next day, to Villa San Pietro, a stop that was only introduced in 1943. From there now there is only Pula and Nora, the old Phoenician and Roman city, a true archaeological jewel. A visit to the church of St. John the Baptist and that of St. Raymond cannot be missed. It starts from there the return to Cagliari, about forty kilometers further east, to the little church of Stampace, for a complete route, to complete, the “Great Way of St. Ephisius.”
